LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND: A GORGEOUS POST FROM MIDNIGHT COWGIRLS

Elizabeth Palmer of Midnight Cowgirls wrote this post. I wish the whole world could read it:

Hey there; so it's been a while. It feels like the world has shifted a little bit since my last post, doesn't it? Tom and I were out on election night and got to be in a crowd of people at the magical moment when the race was called. We were both overwhelmed with emotion; I truly have never experienced anything like it. Hope was in the air. People were crazy with joy all along Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. Us too!

Today my dear friend Buffy passed along a blog post by her good friend Tamie.

"Times are hard for so many people right now. It's the economy. It's loneliness. It's the way that we don't get received in the ways we ache to be received. It's the way we're separated from the people we love. It's death. It's fire. It's so many things.

It's time to clean the spare room and dust off the tea set. It's time to overcome our fear of the phone. It's time to write the letters we've been waiting for months to write. It's time to get serious about encouraging each other.

Here is my challenge, to each of us: let us work hard on loving each other right now, on encouraging each other in extra and special ways. Bake cookies for someone. Give someone a hug. Do something small but extraordinary, even if it feels like it might put you out there just a little bit more than usual. Trust me, my friends, the people you know need this encouragement more than you think they do."

- From the owls and the angels - full post here - you should read it. Beautiful writing.

At our house lately, things have been rough in lots of ways (loved ones ill and hurting, financial worries, too much to do and too little time - the usual suspects), and yet somehow, life has never felt sweeter.

For the past few months, I've made an effort to focus on all the wonderful parts of my life and to be at peace with just exactly how things are - to know, and really believe, that everything I have is everything I need. I think I've loved my husband more than ever before - I'm savoring every small thing he does that makes me happy. I'm noticing when he looks good. I'm giving him an extra-long kiss just because. I'm taking time to cozy up to him in bed at night, to feel his heart beat and listen to him breathe, instead of just collapsing on my side of the bed and passing out. It feels amazing. My heart feels bigger, our home feels more peaceful, and Tom and I are loving each other more every day. We'll have been together for ten years this winter, and it's amazing to realize that our life together can just keep getting better. And the kids - I don't even have time right now to go into it. Their chubby curves, their rosy softness, their ineffably sweet little-kid smell, the funny and wise things they say, the fierce love that grabs me hard and knocks me down on a daily basis. I am so lucky. So lucky.

May you find the joy in your life and ride the current of change and hope that is in the air. Life is sweet, my friends.